Apple A17 Pro vs MediaTek Dimensity 8500
It is a close call, with both chips winning the same number of categories.
I put the Apple A17 Pro and the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 side by side to see how they really compare. On graphics, the Apple A17 Pro runs the Apple A17 Pro GPU while the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 runs the Arm Mali-G720 MC8. Below I go through the CPU, GPU, memory and connectivity, then the benchmark scores, so you can work out which one is the better fit for you.
Where each chip wins
Apple A17 Pro
5 advantages
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11% faster Geekbench multi-core score
7,517 vs 6,762
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73% faster Geekbench single-core score
2,987 vs 1,728
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380 MHz higher CPU clock
3780 MHz vs 3400 MHz
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Larger L3 cache
24 MB vs 6 MB
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1 nm smaller semiconductor size
3 nm vs 4nm
MediaTek Dimensity 8500
5 advantages
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47% higher AnTuTu score
24.08 Lakhs vs 16.43 Lakhs
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Newer CPU architecture
ARMv9.2-A vs ARMv8.6-A
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Higher GPU FLOPS
2662.4 GFLOPS vs 2147 GFLOPS
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Newer memory type
LPDDR5X vs LPDDR5
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1,600 MHz higher RAM speed
4800 MHz vs 3200 MHz
Benchmark charts
AnTuTu v11 Total
Geekbench Single-Core
Geekbench Multi-Core
Specifications Comparison
Here is how the Apple A17 Pro and the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 compare across every spec. In each row, the stronger value is highlighted so the differences are easy to spot.
| Launch Date | September 2023 | January 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset Class | Flagship | Upper Mid-range |
| Manufacturer | Apple | MediaTek |
| Model Number | APL1V02 | MT6899 |
| Total Cores | 6 | 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Core Configuration | 2x 3.78 GHz - Performance cores 4x 2.11 GHz - Efficiency cores |
1x 3.40 GHz - Cortex-A725 3x 3.20 GHz - Cortex-A725 4x 2.20 GHz - Cortex-A725 |
| Max Frequency | 3780 MHz | 3400 MHz |
| Instruction Set | ARMv8.6-A | ARMv9.2-A |
| Process Node | 3 nm | 4nm |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| L2 Cache | 20 MB | - |
| L3 Cache | 24 MB | 6 MB |
| TDP | 8W | - |
| GPU Name | Apple A17 Pro GPU | Arm Mali-G720 MC8 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Frequency | 1398 MHz | 1300 MHz |
| Shading Units | 128 | 128 |
| FLOPS | 2147 GFLOPS | 2662.4 GFLOPS |
| Ray Tracing Support | Yes | Yes |
| NPU | Apple Neural Engine | MediaTek NPU 880 |
| API Support | Metal 3, Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 3.0 | OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 3.0, Vulkan 1.3 |
| RAM Type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
|---|---|---|
| RAM Frequency | 3200 MHz | 4800 MHz |
| Memory Bus | 4x 16-bit | 4x 16-bit |
| Max Bandwidth | 51.2 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| Max RAM Size | 8 GB | 24 GB |
| Storage Type | NVMe | UFS 4.0 |
| Camera Support | 48 MP | 320MP |
|---|---|---|
| Video Capture | 4K at 60FPS, 1080p at 240FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Max Display Resolution | 2868 x 1320 | WQHD+ |
| Video Playback | 4K @ 60FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video Codecs | H.264, H.265, HEVC, AV1, VP8, VP9, ProRes, Motion JPEG | H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9 |
| Audio Codecs | AAC, AAX, AAX+, AC-3, E-AC-3, MP3, MP4, WAV, AIFF, CAF | AAC LC, FLAC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, MP3 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X70 5G | - |
|---|---|---|
| Network Support | 5G | 5G |
| Download Speed | 7.5 Gbps | 5.17 Gbps |
| Upload Speed | 3.5 Gbps | 1.25 Gbps |
| Wi-Fi | 6E | 6E |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 6.0 |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS | NavIC, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| Official page | - | Visit |
|---|
Benchmark results
| Total | 16,43,269 | 24,07,614 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 6,00,198 | 7,09,591 |
| GPU | 4,71,123 | 7,62,021 |
| Memory | 2,30,169 | 4,09,017 |
| UX | 3,41,779 | 5,26,985 |
| Single-Core | 2,987 | 1,728 |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Core | 7,517 | 6,762 |
Overall Score
Each category scored out of 100.
| Category | Apple A17 Pro | MediaTek Dimensity 8500 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Score |
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| GPU Score |
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| Memory Score |
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| Total Score |
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Discussion